At 1:04 AM 5/14/97, Don Brayton wrote:

>Would you clarify what you meant here?  How is a socialist union
>organized, administered,  and funded such that it is different from a
>capitalist union?

It explicitly has socialism as its objective. See my post 6 May 1997 in
reply to James W Hutchings on Leninism v socialism, which contained a
socialist programme from the US SLP.

Here is an excerpt:

>>
Economic power is the source of all power. Modern armies cannot function
without a constant stream of goods and equipment that flow from the
industries. Although an army is a military power, it is dependent on the
industries; hence on the workers who operate the industries.

THE WORKING CLASS RUNS THE INDUSTRIES FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. The potential
economic power that rests in its hands is enormous. Properly organized into
Socialist Industrial Unions, that potential can become an irresistible
nonviolent force for social change. This is true because the WORKERS ARE IN
THE BEST STRATEGIC POSITION TO TAKE POSSESSION. "Taking possession" in an
orderly yet resolute manner is just what the working class must do the
moment that its victory is declared at the polls. This is not a general
strike that would lead the workers away from the source of their power and
leave them exposed on the open terrain. It is a GENERAL LOCKOUT OF THE
CAPITALIST CLASS!

Finally, the Socialist Industrial Union supplies the working class with the
democratic instrument needed to administer production under the Industrial
Republic of Labor. It is at once "the battering ram with which to pound
down the fortress of capitalism, and the successor of the capitalist social
structure itself."

Bill Bartlett
Bracknell Tas.